Aster › Space program › Daphnis
Daphnis
Position on the route: 51/130 · level needed 129 · journey (Mk0 engine) 24.6 h
By the numbers
| Diameter | ≈ 8 km |
|---|---|
| Year | 14.3 hours |
| Distance | 136,505 km |
| Found | 2005, Cassini |
The story
Daphnis is a mere 8-km moon circling inside the 42-km-wide Keeler Gap in Saturn’s A ring. Cassini found it in 2005. Its small gravity tugs on the ring particles at the edges of the gap and raises waves: Cassini’s 2017 images showed them clearly.
Its surface is ringed by a ‘skirt’ of ring material built up on the equator. One of the loveliest examples of how Saturn’s rings are sculpted by moons.
Missions
- Cassini (2005–2017): discovery and the wave images
Colony note
Inside the ring; a collision risk. Observation.
What probes bring back
- An 8-km moon in the Keeler Gap: its gravity raises waves on the gap’s edges, seen in Cassini’s images.
- Found by Cassini in 2005; a tiny ‘wave-maker’ in Saturn’s rings with a skirt of ring dust.